Emotion Regulation Profiles Using Multiple Components and Contexts: Correlates and Consequences From Early Childhood to Preadolescence

Although emotion regulation (ER) has been conceptualized as a multicomponent process requiring multi-method assessments, few empirical studies have utilized multiple indicators of ER in one study to assess regulatory processes in early childhood. Therefore, we aimed to provide a more comprehensive understanding of ER in early childhood from a person-centered approach by including multiple components (i.e., negative emotional reactivity, cognitive control) and contexts of ER (i.e., mother report, behavioral task, interactive task). In addition, we explored child and family risk correlates of ER and associations with concurrent and longitudinal adjustment outcomes across development. Participants were 238 children (113 girls) and their mothers. Data were collected at 3, 6, and 10 years of the child age, using multiple methods and informants. Results of the latent profile analysis identified three profiles of ER: Well-Regulated, Cognitively Disinhibited (e.g., lower scores on the measures of cognitive system), and Underregulated (e.g., higher scores on the measures of negative emotional reactivity, lower scores on measures of cognitive control). Relative to children in the other two groups, children in the Well-Regulated group had significantly higher IQs. Furthermore, children in the Cognitively Disinhibited group had lower academic achievement and higher levels of relational aggression at age 10 compared to well-regulated children. Our findings advance the understanding of ER during the preschool period and provide useful information on early intervention targeting ER difficulties as a transdiagnostic risk factor for long-term adjustment outcomes.